OOTD: When You Go South, Wear Lilly

While Chicago was cold, my first trip to the South was nice and warm! It was also humid and we had downpours (hence the crazy hair and in some of the pics) but still nothing better than some nice sun and warmth for the soul with all the country music. Yes, I finally visited Nashville! And let me tell you, it was awesome! I loved the ambiance, the colors, the music, the food and the history! Since I was venturing below the Mason Dixon line, where Lilly abounds, I decided to rock my new Colie top in Multi Stems. I absolutely LOVE this top. It's a white v-neck (my go to), it has pink, the print is bold and fun and it's Lilly. 

Cardigan: JC Penney (ancient, similar here) // Top: Lilly Pulitzer // Jeans: Uniqlo // Sneakers: Converse // Vest: GAP (similar here) // Sunglasses: BP. // Bag: Tory Burch (old style, similar here) // Bracelet: J. Crew (similar here) // Watch: Fossil (similar here)

 It truly was the simplest outfit, but it felt so right. I felt bold as a flamingo yet composed and elegant, particularly with my other eBay find my Tory Burch Amanda logo bag, and with my new sunglasses I got in Nordstrom. When trying sunglasses on, I honestly asked my mom: "Which makes me look like a femme-fatale boss-ass bitch?" and then I bought them. I should have taken a resting bitch-face pic for you all to see but oh well, I was TOO HAPPY to be in Nashville with my loved ones! :)

So now tell me, what is your go to outfit for visiting the South? And if you are from there, how prevalent (or not) is Lilly? Let me know!

Love,

- Ane

OOTD: Bronco Nation

Kaixo everyone,

I do not believe I have ever talked about this in my blog (I may have though, I am as repetitive as someone can get and I've told this story three times to a friend this weekend. Three times), but I am a huge Denver Broncos fan. Living in the Midwest, this is kind of odd. Being a girl from Europe, this is super odd. However, I did my study abroad in Durango, Colorado, where one of my dearest friends, Elley, instilled her love of the Broncos in me.

In fact, the last week I spent in Colorado, I got to have dinner with one of them! True story. My friend Ali's mom used to work in the hotel were they stayed before games, and she was good friends with one of them, David. She invited him to come over for dinner many times, and finally, he came when I was just visiting Ali! It really was a pleasure to meet such a cool, funny guy and hear what he had to say about being a professional football player.

David, Ali and I in June 2012

The Broncos got to the Super Bowl in 2014, which got me super excited.

2014

If you are a football fan, you may remember was absolutely painful for the Broncos. I cried. I seriously did cry on my way home from watching. The Seahawks crushed them.

So when the Broncos made it to the Super Bowl again this year, I was ecstatic. I was definitely wary, considering how good the Panthers had been during the season. Pretty much everyone here thought the Panthers were gonna win, and only 3 of us at the party where I watched it were rooting for the Broncos. So, SURPRISE SURPRISE, THE BRONCOS WON!!!!! OMAHA, OMAHA!!!

I felt so so happy, and I felt so happy for Elley, Ali, and all my Colorado friends who were so happy about their beloved state team. In 2014 I had the cap that David signed, but this year I had it in Spain, so I got the cutest Denver Broncos tee I could've found in Easy.

Tee, AFApparel

HOW CUTE IS THIS??? A Mexican Día de los Muertos skull with the Broncos' old logo in the forehead. The Bronco is actually a skeleton! I fell in love right at the moment I saw it. But I even fell more in love when I got it on the mail. The royal blue shade was darker than expected, which I loved.

Snapchat filters on point! Follow me: anetxin91

Tank: AFApparel // Cardigan: Forever 21 // Jeans: Uniqlo // Ring: Mango (old, similar here) // Bracelet: Apricot Lane boutique // Sneakers: Converse // Handbag: Lefties (old, similar here) // Necklace: Forever 21

Even Lilly Pulitzer showed a little homage to the Broncos after winning Super Bowl 50! In love with this print!

Tell me about your Super Bowl experience! What team did you root for? Did you wear anything in particular? Let me know!

Love,

- Ane

Oregon OOTD: Hiking in Style

Kaixo everyone!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas (and well if you don't celebrate it, that you're having an awesome holiday so far) and that your break is being as relaxing as mine. Something that I can't wait to do once the holidays are done with is to GO HIKING. I mean, central Illinois is so flat. SO FLAT. Meanwhile, the Basque Country has both coast and mountains! Something I got to do while visiting Kelly in Oregon was to go hiking! We visited Multnomah Falls east of Portland, and let me tell you, it was beautiful. Full of tourists (UGH), but the higher we went, the less people there were.

I took the opportunity to channel my inner 80s aero-hiking queen, with some really bright patterned garments. I mean, I could use neutrals like mostly everyday on my life, but there are some positives to wearing brights while hiking:

1) You can be easily recognizable...
2)...so you won't get lost.
3) Nobody will judge you because you're supposed to feel comfortable, so what if your most comfortable clothes give people eyesores?
4) The 80s are ALWAYS back in style.
5) You look fly as f.

I wish being myself looked cooler than this

Fleece: Patagonia // Yoga pants: Lululemon // Gloves: Lands' End // Sneakers: Adidas (old, similar here // Bag: Lefties (old, similar here) // Beanie: TIS University Bookstore (old, similar here)

I personally love this fleece, but I just noticed the color sold out! One of my friends told me Patagonia is way better than North Face (I have no idea, honestly, agree to disagree), and I saw those funky colors and fell in love, and even more when I got it and I started wearing it non-stop. You already know about how much I love my yoga pants, and well, fun fact! A guy at the top of the trail stopped us and asked if we were Illini, to what we said yeah, of course! He was too! Class of '73! That was one of the highlights of the hike, definitely!

I wanted to make a personal note before ending this post. While Christmas is a time of celebration and enjoyment with loved ones, I have heard the saddest news yesterday. Olatz, a friend of mine from my hall my sophomore year, passed away in China due to severe food intoxication. She was a fun-loving, outgoing girl in love with life who had the whole world ahead of her, and her sudden death filled me with sadness. This reminded me of how lucky I am to be alive, and never to take the next day for granted. Olatz was 23 and had her whole life ahead of her, and now she does not. Please pray or think about her family in such a terrible time and remember to cherish your existence, for it is never guaranteed. Goian bego, Oli.
Love,

- Ane

Oregon OOTD: Outfit repeater

Kaixo everyone,

It's time for an Oregon recap! I went to Oregon for Thanksgiving to visit my dear friend Kelly. Kelly and I became friends through my ex-boyfriend (something good had to come out of that, right?) as she worked in the Jewish center my boyfriend used to go to. In fact, we met at a Jewish barn dance... We probably were the only non-Jewish girls there. That, the fact that we were both Spanish majors, and a magic affinity, made us best friends! When she moved to Oregon, I felt like a part of me went missing, so I decided to visit her for Thanksgiving break.

The first day was basically traveling from the Midwest to the PNW... Which would've been kind of terrible if I hadn't gone shopping the day before in Chicago (more on that soon), since my flight was the FIRST one leaving the airport at 5:30 a.m. What are the odds? The good part was that I got to Portland at 10am, so Kelly and I went to her place, we napped, and then we headed to the movies to watch the last Hunger Games movie. I cried like a baby, which is kinda funny considering I've read the books... but I cried anyway. After that, we went to have my very first beer tasting in Portland, basically Disney for beer lovers. It was the perfect day to start my trip.

Us, basically

Tuesday was basically wandering around Portland in the morning, as Kelly had to work in the afternoon, so I decided to dress up. I gotta confess, I am no trust fund baby, and that means, I don't own a massive closet. In fact, living abroad makes me have half of my closet in the US and the other half in Spain. And that makes it even more difficult. Enter traveling around the US. EVEN LESS CLOTHES. And honestly, I always end up wearing the clothes I like most. Remember when I wore this the first day of school? Here the fall edition:

There were GOOOOOOD

Photobomb master

Dress: Zara // Blazer: H&M // Scarf: Lilly Pulitzer (old) // Tights: Old Navy // Flats: J. Crew Factory (old, similar here) // Earrings: Kendra Scott // Bag: Lefties (old, similar here)

Isn't it easy? Just add some black opaque tights, dressier shoes and a blazer and BOOM! FALL APPROPRIATE! Fashion is awesome. Speaking of awesome...

ALL THOSE BEAUTIFUL CALORIES!!!

This will be all for today, be on the look for more soon!

Love,

- Ane

First Day of School: OOTD and bits and pieces

Kaixo my dear friends!

First of all, I wanted to apologize for a lack of posting lately, but since flying to the US I haven't had the chance to stop: My day in Chicago, moving, getting the apartment ready... I got to Chicago at 2pm on Friday and after going through customs (BO-RING) and getting to my hostel I went shopping. Surprisingly (and fortunately for my wallet), I did not spend as much as I thought I would. I was looking for a specific pair of earrings that I didn't find anywhere (happy to announce that they are on my way from Neiman Marcus' website, holler!), which was a bummer, but I did find the other pair I was looking for, my first Kendra Scott earrings! The saleswoman let everyone in the store know it was my first pair. I got them through Color Bar, where you can customize jewelry. I got the Danielle earrings in magenta with silver metal tone. Gold doesn't look good on me and that's a truth I cannot escape.

Kendra Scott, 65$

I went to the new Vineyard Vines store to get a "I *insert whale* Chicago" tee, but I really wasn't very excited about it so I decided to save some money. Finally, I ended up in Nordstrom, and I got two very weird things to get there, in my opinion:

Nike, 30$

Betsey Johnson, 12$

Norts and a thong (sorry for being TMI about this but a) we all wear underwear and b) the pattern was too cute, sorry not sorry). And that was it. I was very surprised about it but considering I had just bought so much stuff at the After Party Sale I was fine with it. Also, I got all my items from the sale and they are beyond adorable!!

I finally wanted to show you my outfit of the day because today was the first day of school at U of I! First day of 19th grade!! (Man I am old and I've been in school for too damn long!) I was a little scared at first but it was overall a wonderful day!

I decided to keep it megasimple today, but I wanted to look chic too (duh!), so I paired a black trapeze dress with a light patterned scarf and black accessories. Wake up, #flawless.

All those trash bags in the background #glam

My thoughts on having homework already

Dress: Zara // Bracelet: Zara // Watch: Old // Earrings: Kate Spade New York // Wayfarers: Ray-Ban // Flats: Zara // Scarf: Lilly Pulitzer (old)

I am a little scared about how this year will go by, honestly, but I can only imagine it'll be better than last year :) How was your first day? What did you wear?

Love,

- Ane

OOTD: When your sister goes to(teal)ly crazy

Kaixo!

After recovering from the LP sale, I am back to posting about my Lanzarote trip. I'll skip a couple of days to show you my last OOTD post of the trip and will finally tell you guys a short recap of my last days in another post.

Before I start, I want to assume that you have either watched or are fans of shows like ANTM or RuPaul's Drag Race. When I was younger, I used to love watching Spanish shows like that. The first one was "Supermodelo 2006", and I remember how they had to learn to walk on the catwalk, pose for pics, etc. The funniest part for me was when the photographer, a French dude called Rouzic who looks like Pitbull's doppelgänger, asked them to "give him more." The French accent and the girls' confused looks when he asked for it, and his really vague explanations of what he wanted topped the cake.

My sister and I were obsessed. When I told her about my blog and the pics, she went full Rouzic with me. Like literally took my camera and started snapping non-stop, moving around me and making me walk, jump, pose and all that jazz. The pics were hilarious, and I picked some of them for you:

She did take some artistic pics too though:

Dress: Local boutique (old) // Bag: Blanco (old, similar here) // Sunglasses: Nordstrom // Earrings: Kate Spade New York // Sandals: Les Tropezzienes par M Belarbi (French brand) // Watch: Fossil (old, similar here)

You can see that everything is repeated except for the dress. This teal dress has been a favorite of mine for a long time. I bought it in 2013 and it has been great for everything. It's cute enough for going out with friends, modest enough to teach in, and comfortable enough to do pretty much anything else. Besides, teal is one of the most fitting colors for any type of skin!

I have picked a handful of similar dresses for you to check out too. Find them here, here, here, here, and here! Any other teal dresses you like? How do you like to style teal?

Finally, let me share a picture of my craziest photographer and me. I miss my sissy so much!

Love,

- Ane